Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-11-04
CARP AND THEIR HABITS
Ia. k1sn Commissioner Stinweu has
20 nay Concerning Them---Work At

young carp, which were to be sent from
washington, into the State House fountain
In conversation with Journal renortar NJ
o'iii"eii related in very interesting way the
'iapits and history of this peculiar fish ..The
carp he said lis the only domesticated fab
OF which we have any record. II occun;ss
among hsh the same position that the hog
uoes among animals 1t is purely vegeta-
Die eating fish living upon the plants tina,
grow IN ponds, favorite food is the preen
siime-like plant that is found upon the surface
OF stagnant water. 1t is great eater and will
take almost anything in the shape of food
such as bread crumbs, cabbage leaves. in far,
almost any kind of vegetable food. Like hogs
the quality of the flesh depends a great deal
upon the manner in which they are fed. and
IN Germany a law has been passed forbiddino
them to be fed excremental matter. The
hsh has long history. 1t was domesticated
IN china more than 1000 years ago, and has
probably been kept in Germany for at least a
thousand years. The farmers in Germany
raise them in small ponds The fish are
carried alive TO the market in tubs. The
FARMER selects as many as he thinks he can
feed and carries them to his pond. Here he
keeps them for two or three years and then
they are ready for the market They are a
hsh that attain weight of between twenty
and thirty pounds"
They are generally carried to the mar
ket alive them"
Yes they are fish that is very tenacious
of life, and when packed in sponges or damp
clothes may be carried great distances and
kept some time alive. They are often KEEP,
in cellars this way for some length Of time -
In this respect the carp somewhat resembles
our common horn pout or eel"
The fish is taken from the ponds then
and is all ready for the MARKET"
"Well not quite. When taken from the
pond the fish tastes of the mud in which he
lives. In order to avoid this he is put in
wooden crate which is placed in the running
water of some brook. After breathing in
this pure water for some time, the muddy
taste all disappears and the fish is ready to be
eaten. This taste of the pond mud is thing
that may be seen in our common horn
pout In Philadelphia, for instance
pouts are esteemed great deicacy, and hotel
keepers in order to remove the pond flavor
which comes from muddy bottom keep them
in ice water for several days before they are
served"
DO you think the carp will do well in the
State House Fountain"
"Well that remains to be seen. They have
done very well at Bangor They naturally
like rather still, stagnant pond, where the
water is somewhat warm and there is plenty OF
vegetation for them to live upon"
How long have you had carp in Bangor
Il put few in there three years ago. FoI
a time | heard nothing from them In
the course of year or two the people who
owned the pond came to me and said, MIR
all dead. There isn't one there; but a
year later they came to me and
told me what large fish there
were in the pond. The carp were there all
the time only they hadn't shown themselves.
In fact they might be in pond for years and
never be seen living as they do amid the mud
on the bottom.
DO they live to a great ageT
Yes. Prof Baird used to tell of carp
which were known to be more than a hundred
years old
How will they hold their own with other
fsh?"
Not at all. They should never be put
into water. where there are other fish or they
will be destroyed. They are peaceable
lazy fish and although they lay great mum
Der of eggs they would not increase in a
pond where there are other fish, the result
being that the other fish would eat both them
and their eggs.
"Will they live well under ice?"
II think they will that has been the case
in Bangor"
,IIow is the work of the fish commission
progressing"
Very well indeed. We are carrying on
our hatchery at Crooked River, and another at
Ede's Falls We have weir below the fall
for taking land-locked salmon We have
about $50 of them now some weighing q
pounds"
How does the salmon hatchery at Crooked
River prosper"
Every nicely indeed. Last year we took
and Matched 1000 eggs and put the fish in
TO Sebago waters. Well | must 90 down t,
the express office and see if those carp ART
there, and the man who knows more con
corning fish culture than anyone else ii
Maine hastened away to look after the new
! Inhabitants for the Capitol fountain